Getting Production Value from Data and Analytics

June 2, 2017
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Abbott Nutrition is focused on obtaining more value from its data. They piloted Seeq, an advanced analytics technology combined with OSIsoft plant infrastructure to reduce clean in place (CIP) times and to reduce product giveaway.

Abbott used Seeq to create models to help reduce clean-in-place rinse time while maintaining or improving product quality. They also used it to reduce product give away. Per James Li, an engineering manager in the Abbott Nutrition division, “By the end of the pilot, we felt confident in the value we could obtain and increased the project scope to include additional PI Servers.” Abbott launched a formal analytics program globally at the beginning of 2017, with near-term plans to connect Seeq to all OSIsoft PI Servers globally.

The company used OSIsoft’s Asset Framework (AF) to contextualize and organize the data using AF’s asset-centric models, and Seeq to reduce the time and effort needed to connect to AF, create models, and find insights quicker.

Using Seeq’s Capsules to Find Data Correlations

To reduce CIP cycle times while maintaining or improving product quality, the company focused on asset utilization. While Mr. Li had previously created trend reports to try to identify, and isolate specific CIP issues, trend data alone does not always tell the complete story. For this pilot, he created a model using the Seeq technology to validate and improve the way the available data was used. To be able to capture the most important data and assimilate the intelligence, Abbott used Seeq’s capsules to break down the data into phases specific to the CIP process and equipment. The software allowed them to quickly identify patterns, see the duration time for each circuit and phase, identify the longest CIP run, and drill down to determine the reason for the longer run. They are able to analyze the incremental costs accrued, identify excessively long CIP runs, over-rinsing, and identify CIP circuits when the acid or caustic was overused. They were also able to drill down to quickly identify the root causes, such as valve leakage or other instrument failure.

The ability to quickly identify the root cause enabled the company to fix the issues to improve operational efficiencies through more consistent CIP duration. In some cases, Abbott was also able to decrease CIP cycles to increase production availability.

For the CIP cycle use case, Seeq also helped Abbott identify key areas to focus on for production improvements. The second pilot use case focused on Abbott powder filling equipment to help reduce product giveaway and scrap.

When implementing new software and approaches to capture knowledge, cultural considerations are also important. Abbott has knowledgeable people with extensive process expertise, and another benefit of the pilot is that Seeq and OSIsoft technologies enable the company to move to a more collaborative environment enabling their experts to share knowledge easily.